After its first Interscholastic League of Honolulu loss of the season, Punahou responded with the fire and desire it needed to get back into the fray.

Tressa Torres came off the bench to score a game-high 16 points, senior twins Shawna-Lei and Shaena-Lyn Kuehu combined to score 15 points and grab 14 rebounds, and the No. 2 Buffanblu remained in the ILH title hunt by trouncing No. 8 Kamehameha 60-40 last night at Hemmeter Fieldhouse.

Punahou (7-1) remained tied in the loss column with top-ranked Iolani (5-1), which stunned the Buffanblu, 48-32 last week. The teams play again Jan. 26.

Coach Mike Taylor was proud that his team was able to discard the plays -- however few -- that didn't go their way last night, similar to the way his team put the game against Iolani behind it.

"I just liked the fact that we played with emotion and concentration," Taylor said. "Even when things didn't go our way we battled back from adversity the right way. They brushed off the last play and moved on. Played with confidence, tried to be supportive of each other, be more selfless, and we beat a good Kamehameha team doing that."

Punahou shot a blistering 56 percent from the field (24-for-43), while Kamehameha (4-4) was held to 40 percent. To make matters worse, the Warriors were hounded relentlessly by the Punahou fullcourt press and never settled into a comfortable offensive rhythm, sometimes rushing shots against the man-to-man pressure.

"We need to be more patient to understand discipline a little bit more," Warriors coach Clay Cockett said. "We get caught up in the game and the pace of the game too much instead of slowing ourselves down ... we've played better against their press before and done a much better job."

Kamehameha's Shaleese Javillo hit three impressive shots in the fourth quarter for a team-high 10 points, but by then it was against Punahou's second-string defense and it was too late.

As a team, the Buffanblu outrebounded their opponent 32-17, with the majority of caroms ending up in the hands of one of the Kuehus or Torres.

The Warriors tied things up at 10 to start the second quarter, but the Buffanblu gained separation with three baskets from Shawna-Lei Kuehu during a 17-4 run to close out the period. Torres, a junior, supplied steady offense with eight points in each half, and Kamehameha got no closer than 17 the rest of the game.

"Tressa came in well, the whole bench supported us and when they got in they did a really good job, too," Shaena-Lyn Kuehu said. "Coach has been talking to us in the locker room about our emotional tank and how we have to save it for each other."

The Buffanblu are still without leading playmaker Janelle Nomura, who is out with a broken ankle suffered at the Nike Tournament of Champions in Arizona at the turn of the year. Taylor said Nomura could be back as early as next week for the ILH stretch run, but doesn't want to rush her into things.